Young Guns is one of the only Hollywood westerns made during the 1980s, where it sits solitarily alongside the likes of Pale Rider and Silverado. By this time, the general public perception was that westerns had nothing new to offer. However, in this bloodthirsty and fast-paced retelling of the Billy The Kid legend, script-writer John Fusco and director Christopher Cain manage to find a few new angles. By populating their film with hot young talent, then cranking up the violence-levels like some modern retread of The Wild Bunch and underscoring the film with a pulsating rock soundtrack, the makers have found a reasonably effective way of breathing fresh life into a tired old story.
Idealistic rancher John Tunstall (Terence Stamp) harbours a plan to recruit the wild and reckless youths of the Wild West to work on his Nebraska ranch. By showing them the care and patience they've never known, he soon gets these seemingly undesirable youths to become conscientious and hard-working ranch-hands, and even provides them with enough basic education to read and write. The plan falls apart when a rival rancher, Lawrence G. Murphy (Jack Palance), hires a gang of desperadoes to kill Tunstall. Following his death, Tunstall's young workers are determined to avenge their mentor. Initially they set about gaining their revenge legally, working as dedicated deputies out to nail those responsible for his murder. But their approach to the job proves so violent and trigger-happy that they themselves are quickly branded as outlaws. Under the leadership of the most hot-headed of their number William Bonney (Emilio Estevez), the youths leave a trail of corpses across the west as they track down their enemies. Soon Bonney earns the nickname Billy The Kid, and he and his gang of "young guns" become the most feared gunslingers around, hunted by the law and the lawless alike.
Young Guns helped to launch quite a few careers. Estevez had already done some decent films prior to this one (Repo Man, The Breakfast Club and Stakeout spring to mind), but this was the first time that he was given the opportunity to grab a role by its throat. Among the many others making a name for themselves are the likes of Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulrooney and Casey Siemaszko. Meanwhile, seasoned old pros like Stamp and Palance provide the kind of expert support that they've done throughout their careers. While the pounding rock score and Brat-pack casting might provoke head-aches among western purists, it makes the film lively and energetic. The shootouts become increasingly stylized as the film draws to its blood-spraying conclusion. This stylization might be off-putting for some, but for others it adds to the film's sense of confident, over-the-top enjoyment. Young Guns is a fairly successful action film which definitely puts the "wild" back into the "west".
Idealistic rancher John Tunstall (Terence Stamp) harbours a plan to recruit the wild and reckless youths of the Wild West to work on his Nebraska ranch. By showing them the care and patience they've never known, he soon gets these seemingly undesirable youths to become conscientious and hard-working ranch-hands, and even provides them with enough basic education to read and write. The plan falls apart when a rival rancher, Lawrence G. Murphy (Jack Palance), hires a gang of desperadoes to kill Tunstall. Following his death, Tunstall's young workers are determined to avenge their mentor. Initially they set about gaining their revenge legally, working as dedicated deputies out to nail those responsible for his murder. But their approach to the job proves so violent and trigger-happy that they themselves are quickly branded as outlaws. Under the leadership of the most hot-headed of their number William Bonney (Emilio Estevez), the youths leave a trail of corpses across the west as they track down their enemies. Soon Bonney earns the nickname Billy The Kid, and he and his gang of "young guns" become the most feared gunslingers around, hunted by the law and the lawless alike.
Young Guns helped to launch quite a few careers. Estevez had already done some decent films prior to this one (Repo Man, The Breakfast Club and Stakeout spring to mind), but this was the first time that he was given the opportunity to grab a role by its throat. Among the many others making a name for themselves are the likes of Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, Charlie Sheen, Dermot Mulrooney and Casey Siemaszko. Meanwhile, seasoned old pros like Stamp and Palance provide the kind of expert support that they've done throughout their careers. While the pounding rock score and Brat-pack casting might provoke head-aches among western purists, it makes the film lively and energetic. The shootouts become increasingly stylized as the film draws to its blood-spraying conclusion. This stylization might be off-putting for some, but for others it adds to the film's sense of confident, over-the-top enjoyment. Young Guns is a fairly successful action film which definitely puts the "wild" back into the "west".